Free Fall
by WhisperToMeSoftly
Summary: not an x-over. oneshot. Finding Nemo, AU. MarlinxDory if you squint. "She woke up one morning, turning over in bed to face him. He smiled at her—but he noticed something different about her expression. A certain…blankness. “Hello,” she said cheerfully..."


She had been getting so much better. It had gotten to the point where she would go to pick up Nemo from school herself, at exactly the right time, and remember where home was. She would remember the names of people she met on the street—and greet them by name three days later. Marlin had sincerely begun to hope. Her life was nearing normalcy.

Then something happened.

Neither Nemo nor Marlin knew what that something was. Maybe there hadn't even been a 'something'. Maybe it had just happened.

Somehow, Marlin had always known it was too good to be true.

She woke up one morning, turning over in bed to face him. He smiled at her—but he noticed something different about her expression. A certain…blankness.

"Hello," she said cheerfully. "Who are you?"

After that incident, they reverted back to their old methods. The ones they had used before she had improved. They gave her a nice silver locket to wear around her neck: "My name is Dory," one side said; the other held a picture of the three of them at the county fair, smiling and hugging. They gave her a plastic bracelet, not unlike those you would receive at the hospital, that read, "You live at 1806 Reef St, Apt. 36, Sydney Australia."

She would always remember, eventually. After forgetting their names at lunchtime, she would remember them by dinner. Forget them by the time they went to bed, remember them in the morning.

But she got steadily worse.

-x-x-

He came home from work to find her in the kitchen, circling quickly like a panicked animal. Her eyes were locked on nothing but the ground in front of her. He heard her mutter softly to herself, mumblings he couldn't hear.

When he entered, she looked up.

He could see the panic in her eyes, and he knew.

"Where am I?" she demanded. "Where have you taken me? Who are you?"

"Dory," he said quietly, setting down his briefcase and holding out his hands defensively. "Dory, it's me. You know me."

She was breathing quickly. "I do?" she asked quietly.

"Yes. You live here. This is our house."

"It is?"

"Yes."

Her hands slowly lifted to press against the sides of her head, and she looked away. "I don't…I don't remember. I don't _remember_."

He was approaching as carefully as he could, his hands still outstretched. "Look in your locket, Dory," he said. "Look in your locket."

Nemo had walked in—then he stopped. It took him only a moment to register what was happening. He stayed back, leaning against the door.

"Locket?" Dory repeated blankly, her eyes wide. Without taking her gaze away from him, her fingers blindly reached for the chain around her neck. She glanced down, opened it, and stared.

"That's me," she said softly. "And that…that's you. And you."

"Do you remember now?" Marlin asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

She didn't respond at first. Then he heard a soft sob, and another. Suddenly she crumpled to her knees—

—and he was there to catch her. (_He always was_.) She leaned into him, still staring at the picture. Nemo slowly walked into the room, sitting on the floor beside her and taking her hand.

"We look so happy," she commented, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"We were happy," Marlin responded, wiping it away gently. He studied that face for a moment—pale with freckles, large eyes the color of a deep sky, dark curls that were never completely tamed.

"I don't…I don't remember being happy. Shouldn't I? Shouldn't I remember you?"

"Dory—"

"You were happy. You were happy before me."

"We're happy _with_ you," Nemo said gently, squeezing her hand.

"We're a family, Dory," Marlin whispered. "We love you."

"You…you love…" She looked up into his face, searching his eyes. Then she reached up a hand, stroked his cheek…

She suddenly looked around at Nemo, then back at Marlin. "Why are we on the floor?" she asked brightly. "Is this a group hug? Oh! Did I tell you both? I found a Chinese place we can order takeout from!" Her eyes suddenly fell on Marlin beside her, and her face fell ever so slightly. "Marlin," she said, tilting her head. "Why are you crying?"

-x-x-

Their relationship had never been entirely romantic. Definitely not as much as his and Coral's had been. And yet, it seemed more…pure. Sincere. Real. In ways he couldn't describe.

They had never kissed. Not once.

They slept in the same bed—nothing passionate had ever happened.

They would hug often. She would hug him whenever she saw him, whenever he came home from work, whenever he said Yes, Fine, We'll go to the aquarium.

They would hold hands. Sometimes with Nemo, sometimes without. It seemed like she did it without thinking—they would be walking down the street, pointing out strange people and places and laughing…and all of the sudden, her hand would be in his. He never wanted to let go.

He would hold her, when the attacks came. When she couldn't remember anymore. When she cried into his neck, clutching his shirt, he would wrap his arms around her and hold her.

He would call for her, when she got lost. When she left and didn't come back, because she didn't remember. He would worry, when he couldn't find her. He would hug her when she finally returned. (_God? Thank you, for giving Nemo the idea of putting her address on a bracelet. Thank you very much._)

Once she had been gone all night. Marlin had gone to bed exhausted, anxious, and heartsick. But he had fallen asleep.

He woke up the next morning, and realized something very important: before going to bed, his heart had felt ill and achy. After waking up, to realize that there was going to be no freckly, smiling face on the pillow beside him telling him, "Good morning", his heart nearly snapped in two.

Nemo was more of a mother to Dory than the other way around. He would remind her of things, things she needed to do, places she needed to go. He would remind her to eat, make her lunch and breakfast on weekends. Sometimes when Marlin had to work late, he would take her by the hand and they would walk around the city. Then they would buy super-size Sugar Daddies and suck on them for the rest of the night, and Marlin would come home and scold them (with a smile) for ruining their dinner. Then they would show him the one they had saved for him, and all would be forgiven.

Sometimes Marlin wondered if he loved her. If he loved her like he had loved Coral. Certainly he loved her like he loved Nemo. This kind of question would often keep him awake at night, lying on his back and looking at the white, crooked ceiling.

Then the next morning he would roll over, and find her already awake and looking at him and smiling that ever-bright smile at him. "Good morning!"

And he would decide that it didn't matter anyway.

-x-x-

"Would you like some jewelry, miss?"  
She turned her head and smiled. (_What a nice smile_, he couldn't help but think.) "What do you have?" she asked happily, moving closer to the stand.

"All kinds!" he exclaimed. "Necklaces, rings, bracelets—"

"Ooh, I like this bracelet."

"Do you? That's Venetian glass, that is. Completely clear, you see that? No flaws."

"It's beautiful," she said, turning it over and over in the light.

"Try it on!"

She slid it on her wrist—then stopped. She stared at it intently. No, this was wrong. It wasn't supposed to be there; something else was supposed to be there. Something metal, right? No. Plastic. Where was it?

Maybe it had been a bracelet. Yes, that must have been it. She had a plastic bracelet.

_Must have lost it_, she thought with a mental shrug. She turned back to the dealer. "How much?" she asked with a bright smile, completely oblivious to the fact that miles away, a man and a boy were wandering city streets. The boy was crying silently, holding tight the man's hand. No tears came from the man's eyes, but his step was the slow step of the heartbroken as he screamed her name to the empty air.


End file.
